Fourth Samut Sakhon field hospital to open on Friday
A fourth field hospital has been set up in Samut Sakhon and will be ready to receive patients from Friday, vice governor Surasak Phonyangsong said on Tuesday.
Located in the Nadee area of Muang district, the hospital is a two-building facility of 350 beds which will treat asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic Covid-19 patients.
Surasak revealed that 180 migrant workers had completed 14-day quarantine and been discharged from Samut Sakhon’s first field hospital, located in the Central Shrimp Market where the outbreak was first detected in mid-December. As of Tuesday, the total number of quarantine-stayers discharged from the hospitals was 472.
Samut Sakhon had recorded 3,341 news cases of Covid-19 since mid-December, as of Monday. Of these, 811 have recovered but need to complete quarantine.
Most of the infected were working-age people, according to Samut Sakhon chief public health officer Naretrit Khatthasima. Very few had developed serious symptoms, and only one had died. The test and trace operation in Samut Sakhon has detected an infection rate of less than 2 per cent, said Naretrit.
Infections in provinces hit hard by the outbreak were still concentrated mainly in factories and related areas.
Of the 30,000 people targeted by the case-search operation, more than 9,000 in 109 factories have already been tested, while the remaining 20,000 will be tested within two weeks.